Railway car plug door structure

ABSTRACT

A RAILWAY HOUSE CAR HAVING A PLUG-TYPE DOOR MOUNTED ON UPRIGHT SHAFTS INCLUDING LATERALLY SWINGING CRANKS WITH THEIR SWINGING ENDS JOURNALED ON WHEELED CARRIAGES TRAVELING ON A TRACK RUNNING LENGTHWISE ON THE CAR BODY. MECHANISM TO ROTATE THE SHAFTS AND MOVE THE DOOR IN AND OUT OF THE OPENING IN THE CAR WALL INCLUDES A MANUALLY OPERABLE TIMING PLATE PARALLELING THE DOOR AND JOURNALED THEREON AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF ARCUATE CAMS WITH FOLLOWERS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO RESPECTIVE CRANKSHAFTS. OTHER CAMS AND FOLLOWERS ACTUATE LOCKING BARS SLIDBLE   ON THE DOOR TO ENGAGE AND DISENGAGE KEEPERS ON THE CAR WALL TO HOLD THE DOOR TIGHTLY CLOSED. THE CAMS AND THEIR CONNECTIONS TO THE SHAFTS HOLD THE DOOR AGAINST MOVEMENT BY PRESSURE FROM CAR LADING OR BY IMPACTS DUE TO CAR SHIFTING. ALL THE ABOVE-MENTIONED OPERATIONS ARE ATTAINED WITHOUT USE OF LEVERS EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM THE DOOR. THE MECHANISM MAY BE SECURED AGAINST OPERATION BY THE USUAL RAILWAY CAR SEAL BUT ONLY WHEN THE DOOR IS COMPLETELY CLOSED AND LOCKED.

oct. 19, 1971 N, s, WQLAK EIAL 3,613,312

K RAILWAY CAR PLUG DOOR STRUCTUREl Filed Aug. 11', 1969 3 sheets-shoot 1 Oct. 195 1971 N, s, WOLAK ETAL RAILWAY CAR PLUG DOOR STRUCTURE n' www j 2 y w may@ y 1m ms. 6 P @u fr. Q1 n 3% C e 70 /va y?? Il )il Filed Aug. ll, 1969 Nys. woLAK EVAL RAILWAY CAR PLUG Doon STRUCTURE Oct. 19,1971

5 5, 3 v/ 0 f m 7i m www y om WW?. w m J. a. 53W; F onf Filed Aug. ll, 1969 Unired States Patent Olhce Patented l Oct. 19, 1971 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A railway house car having a plug-type door mounted on upright shafts including laterally swinging cranks with their swinging ends journaled on wheeled carriages traveling on Va track running lengthwise on the car body. Mechanism to rotate the shafts and move the door in and out of the opening in the car wall includes a manually operable timing plate paralleling the door and journaled thereon and having a plurality of arcuate cams with followers operatively connected to respective crankshafts. Other cams and followers actuate locking bars slidable on the door to engage and disengage keepers on the car wall to hold the door tightly closed. The cams and their connections to the shafts hold the door against move-V ment by pressure from car lading or by impacts due to car shifting. All the above-mentioned operations are attained without use of levers extending laterally from the door. The mechanism may be secured against operation by the usual railway car seal but only when the door is completely closed and locked.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common practice to shift a plug door transversely of a car wall into and out of an opening in the wall to be substantially flush with the wall, to close the opening, or offset outwardly therefrom for movement alongside the wall, usually upon wheel carriages traveling on a track beneath or above the opening. Among the objects of the present invention are to simplify such structure, to obtain greater effectiveness than provided previously to prevent accidental movement of the door from fully closed position, to assure the proper sequence of door movements, transversely and lengthwise of the wall, and of locking and unlocking operations, and to prevent application of a seal to the door while it is positioned in front of the wall opening but before it is moved inwardly to tightly close the opening. These and other detail objects are attained by the structure described as follows and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a side elevation of a plug door and operating structure embodying the invention and shows some boxcar side wall elements adjacent the door opening, with the door in closed and locked position.

FIG. 1A is a detail horizontal section on line 1A 1A of FIG. 1 and on a larger scale.

FIG. 2 is a detail vertical transverse section on line 2 2 of IFIG. 1 but on a larger scale.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3 3 of FIG. l but drawn to a larger scale.

FIG. 4, largely diagrammatic, shows the timing plate in elevation and the operating parts in horizontal section when the door is unlocked but still within the wall opening.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but shows the parts with the door moved transversely of the wall out of the door opening, from which position it may be moved lengthwise of the car in the usual manner to clear the opening.

FIG. 6 is a view of the operating gear latch and seal adjacent the lower end of the operating handle when the door is locked in closed position.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section on line 7 7 of FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a horizontal section on line 8 8 of FIG. 6. FIG. 9 illustrates a modified structure in which the timing plate is driven by a pinion and drives the locking bar by a pinion and rack.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The door shown in FIGS. l-S comprises metal sheets 1 with structural or pressed shape reinforcing members 2, 3, 4, at its bottom, top and side edges and intermediate reinforcements `6, 7. The reinforcing members project outwardly from sheets 1. Upright shafts 10, 11 are journaled on the door reinforcing members and are spaced from sheets 1 and have crank arms 13 on their lower ends which mount the shafts and the door upon wheeled carriages 15 which travel on a track 17 supported by brackets 18 on the car side sill 19. Each crank arm 13 pivots at one end on a carriage 15 and when its shaft is rotated moves the door transversely of the wall in a well known manner. Operating cranks 21 are fixed on the shafts and are spaced above crank arms 13, are shorter than the latter and are connected to individual horizontal operating bars 23. Crank arms 13 and operating cranks 21 always extend from shafts 10 inwardly of the car thereby avoiding outward projection which would tend to limit the width of the car body in order to avoid interference with established clearance lines. Crank arms 13 are perpendicular to the plane of the door when the door is shifted outwardly by crank arms `13 (FIG. 5) and the door will not be shifted outwardly further by load impact or shifted inwardly by workmen during sliding movement so as to contact the car wall.

A rectangular housing 25 on the exterior of the door encloses a timing plate or disc cam 27 having a journal 28 in the housing and mounting a manually operable handle 29. Disc 27, journal 28 and handle 29 rotate as a unit. The timing plate disc is provided with cam slots 31, 32, 33 (FIGS. 4, 5). A portion of each slot has a working face disposed spirally about journal 28 and has a dwell face disposed concentric with the journal. The opposite ends of each slot 31, 32 and one end of slot 33 is closed. The other end of slot 33 merges with the periphery of the timing plate which becomes an extension of the lower face of cam 33. Each shaft operating bar 23 has a follower 124 at one end engaging a respective cam slot 31, 32 in timing plate 27 and at the other end the bar is pivotally connected to the outer end of a crank 21.

Two pairs of horizontal locking bars 35 are slidably mounted on the door and have fingers at their outer endswhich may be projected beyond the edge of the door toengage keepers 37 on the car wall. The inner end of each of these locking bars is pivoted to a bell crank 39 pivoted at 40 lon the door. An upright actuator bar 42 is slidable vertically on the door and operatively engages all of the bell cranks to thrust the locking lingers into the keepers or to withdraw the lingers from the keepers as the bar is lowered or raised. Bar 42 extends downwardly alongside of and below housing 25, being slotted at 44 (FIG. 4) to straddle timing plate journal 28. The upper end of the actuator bar is guided by a roller 43 (FIG. 1A) on a pin 46 on a bracket 45 on the door. The actuator guides equalize the actuator action on the two horizontal locking bars. The lower end 47 of bar 42 is projectable below the bottom edge of the door to enter a keeper 48 on side sill 19 (FIG. 2.). A pin 49 on actuator bar 42 rides in cam slot 33 and on the periphery of the timing plate.

With the door closed and locked (FIGS. 1-3) handle 29 may be rotated in counterclockwise direction approxi- 3 mately 90 (FIG. 4) to withdraw all five of the locking fingers from their keepers. Further rotation of about 180o or a total of 270 (FIG. 5) swings the crank arms 13 to shift the door transversely of the wall and out of the door opening, whereupon carriages 15 may be moved to the right to fully open the door.

As the fully open door and the carriages are moved to the left to a position abreast of the opening to close the door and handle 29 is rotated clockwise to its original position to effect reverse action of the timing plate, a latch 51 (FIGS. 6-8) pivoted at 52 to a bracket 53 on housing 25 is engaged by a lug 54, projecting rearwardly from handle 29 (FIG. 8) and raised so that it rides over lug 54 and then drops down (FIG. 6) and positively engages lug 54., but only after the handle is vertical, which indicates that the timing plate has been returned to its original position, that the door is plugged into the wall opening, that the usual gaskets 55 are compressed to seal the crevices between the door and wall, and that the locking bars are projected. In such position apertures 56 and 57 in latch 51 and in a lug 58 on the handle, respectively, are in alignment and the usual car seal S may be inserted, but the seal cannot be inserted before the door is positioned within the opening and the locking bar lingers engage keepers 37 and 48.

In the modified driving mechanism shown in FIG. 9, the timing plate 61 is rotated by a pinion 62, journaled on the door housing, and the locking bar actuator 63 is shifted by a pinion y65 rotating with the timing plate and engaging rack teeth 67 on the actuator. When pinion 62 is rotated clockwise by a handle (not shown) the lock actuator is lifted and the door shifted outwardly for opening movement. When the door is abreast of the opening and pinion 62 rotated counterclockwise the door is shifted inwardly and the actuator lowered to lock the door.

We claim:

1. In a plug door structure for a railway house car side wall opening, upright door mounting shafts journaled on the door each having a crank arm at its lower end for supporting the door on a carriage movable along the wall, a shaft-rotating crank on each shaft spaced from its support arm, a manually rotatable disc-shaped timing plate substantially parallel to the door and having a journal thereon, said plate having a plurality of first cam elements spaced from each other and extending in similarly directed spiral arcs angularly spaced about said journal, an operating bar for each shaft having one end pivotally connected to the shaft crank and having a cam follower on its other end engaged by a respective one of said first cam elements to rotate the cranks and supporting arms simultaneously and shift the door transversely of the wall, said first cam elements each having a substantially circular dwell arc at the end thereof engaged by said followers when the door is closed to permit Some rotation of said timing plate without accompanying rotation of said shafts, locking bars slidable on the door to project into keepers on the car wall at the sides of the door, and positive means for retracting said locking bars simultaneously prior to initiation of opening movements of said door-mounting shafts and preventing projection of said locking bars except when the door is closed, said positive means comprising another cam element on said timing plate, a vertically reciprocable actuator slidably mounted on the door and having a follower engaging said other cam element, and operative connections with said locking bars, said actuator being movable by said other cam element to retract said locking bars by its upward movement and project the same by its downward movement, said last-named follower being constantly in vertically overlying relation with a portion of said other cam element, said other cam element including a substantially circular outwardly facing surface on said timing plate underlying cngagcable with said last-named follower as long as the door is open, and also including a slotted por- Bold 312 tion merging with and extending spirally inwardly from said outwardly facing surface in the same direction as said spiral arcs and having an inwardly facing surface overlyingly engageable with said last-named follower when the door is fully closed and said operating bar cam followers are in engagement with said first cam element dwell arcs to positively effect projection of said locking bars by drawing said actuator downwardly.

2. A plug door structure as described in claim 1 in which at the end of a door shifting movement out of the opening each operating bar moves its door supporting crank arm to a position perpendicular to the plane of the door and thereby resists lateral movement of the door transversely of the wall due to impacts on the door.

3, In a plug door structure as described in claim 1, said locking bar actuator having vertically spaced guides above and below the level of the locking bars equalizing the actuator control on the locking hars and forming a guide for the actuator in its movement on the door.

4. ln a plug door structure as described in claim 1, said operating bars, locking bars, locking bar actuator and timing plate all being in the same general vertical plane parallel with and closely adjacent to the door.

5. A plug door structure as described in claim 1 which includes a stop device on the door, a device-engageable part movable with the timing plate, said device and part having respective openings which are aligned to receive a car wire seal when the door is fully closed but are disaligned when the door mounting shafts are rotated to shift the door from its fully closed position.

6. A plug door structure as described in claim 5 which includes a pivoted latch movable about its pivot to positively engage the timing plate part automatically when the seal-receiving openings are aligned.

7. In a plug door structure as described in claim 1, said -rst-named cam elements comprising two separated slots curved about the plate journal and extending in part abreast of each other, each of said slots having both of its ends closed, the sides of said slots forming cam elements for controlling respective door mechanisms, said other cam element slotted portion being intermediate said two slots, and extending to the periphery of the plate.

8. In a plug door structure according to claim 1, said actuator comprising a bar vertically aligned with said timing plate journal and extending from a point thereabove to a point therebelow and being formed with a vertical slot receiving said journal and of suficient length to permit reciprocation of said actuator bar between locking barretracted and locking bar-projected positions.

9. ln a plug door structure according to claim 8, at least some of said locking bars being positioned below said journal.

10. In a plug door structure according to claim 9, some of said locking bars being positioned above said journal.

1I. In a plug door structure for a railway house car side wall opening, upright door mounting shafts journaled on the door each having a crank arm at its lower end for supporting the door on a carriage movable along the wall, a shaft-rotating crank on each shaft spaced from its support arm, a manually rotatable disc-shaped timing plate substantially parallel to the door and having a journal thereon, said plate having a plurality of first cam elements spaced from each other and extending in similarly directed spiral arcs angularly spaced about said journal, an operating bar for each shaft having one end pivotally connected to the shaft crank and having a cam follower on its end engaged by a respective one of Said first cam elements to rotate the cranks and supporting arms simultaneously and shift the door transversely of the wall, said hrst cam elements each having a substantially circular dwell arc at the ends thereof engaged by said followers when the door is closed to permit some rotation of said timing plate without accompanying rotation of said shafts. locking bars slidablc on the door to project into keepers on the car wall at the sides of the door, and positive means for retracting said locking bars simultaneously prior to initiation of opening movements of said door-mounting shafts and preventing projection of said locking bars eX- cept when the door is closed, said positive means comprising another cam element on said timing plate, an actuator slidably mounted on the door for reciprocating movement toward and away from said timing plate journal and having a follower engaging said other cam element and operative connections with said locking bars, said actuator being movable by said other cam element to retract said locking bars by movement of its follower toward said timing plate journal and project the same by movement of its -follower away from said timing plate journal, said other cam element including a substantially circular outwardly facing surface on said timing plate engageable with said last-named follower when the door is open to positively hold said locking bars retracted, and a slotted portion merging with and extending spirally inwardly from said circular surface in the same direction from said spiral arcs and having an inwardly facing surface engageable with said last-named follower when the door is fully closed and said operating bar cam followers are in engagement with said cam element dwell portions to positively eiect projection of said locking bars by drawing said actuating member inwardly of said timing plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,216,067 11/1965 Bailey 49-220 X 3,413,758 12/1968 IPalsson 49-220 KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner 

